1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a connector device for an endoscope, and more particularly to a connector device for an endoscope provided at the distal end portion of a universal cable of an electronic endoscope, provided with a control cable to be connected to a processor, and a light guide bar to be connected to a light source device.
2. Description of the Related Art
At the distal end portion of an insertion portion of an endoscope, there is disposed an irradiation window, and inside the irradiation window, a light guide obtained by bundling extra-fine optical fibers is connected. The light guide is inserted from the insertion portion to an on-hand operating unit, and is further inserted into a universal cable which extends from the on-hand operating unit. Thus, the light guide is inserted into a light guide bar of a light guide connector (hereinafter, referred to as LG connector) provided at the distal end portion of the universal cable to be fixed. Therefore, the light guide bar is connected to a light source device, whereby an irradiation light from the light source device is transmitted through the light guide, and is irradiated toward a portion to be observed through an irradiation window. The electronic endoscope device picks up the portion to be observed with a solid state imaging device (e.g., charge-coupled device: CCD), and image-processes an electric signal to be outputted from the CCD by a processor to display an observed image on a monitor TV.
As shown in FIG. 14, a conventional LG connector is composed of a case body 1 having an aperture 1A, a lid 2 which covers the aperture 1A of the case body 1, and the like. On the case body 1, the light guide bar 3 which is connected to the light source device, is projectedly provided and an end portion of the universal cable 4 to be connected to the on-hand operating unit, and an end portion of a control cable 5 to be connected to the processor are fixed to the case body 1. This LG connector is assembled by fastening a screw (not shown) to a threaded hole 1B through a hole 2A to secure the lid 2 to the case body 1 by screws. Since the endoscope is dipped in a liquid medicine and is washed after use, it is necessary to reliably maintain the watertightness of the LG connector. Thus, between the case body 1 and the lid 2, there is provided packing 6 and the lid 2 is secured to the case body 1 by screws to thereby obtain the watertightness of the LG connector.
Since, however, the LG connector shown in FIG. 14 has a large aperture 1A of the case body 1, there has been a problem that it is difficult to reliably obtain the watertightness because of fitting error of the packing 6, manufacturing error of the case body 1 and the lid 2 and the like.
Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 9-66024 discloses a connector device for an endoscope which has solved the above-described problem. This connector device for an endoscope is, as shown in FIG. 15, composed of a proximal portion 7 equipped with a light guide bar 3, a case body 8 having an aperture 8A to be covered with the proximal portion 7, and the like. The aperture 8A is smaller than the aperture 1A of FIG. 14, and the aperture 8A is fitted in a groove formed at the proximal portion 7. Thus, the problem can be solved concerning the watertightness caused by the connector of FIG. 14. In this respect, a universal cable 4 and a control cable 5 are inserted into mounting holes 8B, 8C formed in a case body 8 respectively, and are connected to the proximal portion 7. This connector is assembled by causing, after the case body 8 is caused to slide on the proximal portion 7 side, mounting rings 9A, 9B to threadedly engage end portions of the universal cable 4 and the control cable 5 respectively.
In the connector device for an endoscope specified in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 9-66024, however, when installing the case 8 to the proximal portion 7, it is necessary to seal two cables: the universal cable 4 and the control cable 5, and the case body 8, but this sealing structure has not been disclosed.
Also, as shown in FIG. 17, a light guide bar 101 is projectedly provided on a case 102 for the LG connector. The light guide bar 101 is formed in a cylindrical shape, and at the distal end portion, there is disposed an LG window glass 103. A light guide 104 is pushed into the light guide bar 101 through an insertion port 105, and after inserted to the position of the LG window glass 103, is fixed by a setscrew 106.
Since, however, the insertion port 105 of the light guide bar 101 is located at a back position difficult to be recognized, the light guide 104 had to be pushed in by touch. For this reason, the conventional LG connector has a defect that it takes time to install the light guide 104.
Also, when the distal end portion of the light guide 104 is not smoothly inserted into the light guide bar 101, but strikes against the case 102, there is a fear of the light guide 104 being damaged. When the light guide 104 has been damaged, there arises a disadvantage that a quantity of light of the irradiation light to be irradiated through the irradiation window decreases. Also, in an endoscope in which one light guide 104 is branched off into two to irradiate through two irradiation windows, the damage to the light guide 104 also causes a disadvantage that quantity of light of the irradiation light to be irradiated through these two irradiation windows will get out of balance.
The present invention has been developed in view of the above-described circumstances, and has as its object the provision of a connector device for an endoscope capable of obtaining the watertightness between the case body of the connector device and the cable, and improving the assembly workability.
Also, it is an object of the present invention to provide a connector device for an endoscope capable of easily installing the light guide to the light guide bar without damaging the light guide.
In order to achieve the above-described object, the present invention is directed to a connector device for an endoscope, wherein: a first cable to be connected to an endoscope on-hand operating unit and a second cable to be connected to a controller which processes a signal are coupled on a first side of a proximal portion of the connector device; a light guide bar to be coupled to a light source device is provided on a second side of the proximal portion of the connector device; the first side of the proximal portion is watertightly sealed with a case body which has an insertion port of the first cable and an insertion port of the second cable; the case body and one of the first cable and the second cable are sealed by a first sealing member provided on an outer peripheral surface of the one of the first cable and the second cable; and the case body and the other one of the first cable and the second cable are sealed by a second sealing member provided on a surface orthogonal to an axis of the other one of the first cable and the second cable.
According to the present invention, the structure is arranged such that of two cables: the first cable and the second cable, one cable and the case body are sealed by the outer peripheral surface of the one cable, and the other cable and the case body are sealed by a surface orthogonal to the axis thereof. With such a structure, the assembly property can be improved without deteriorating the watertightness.
Also, in order to achieve the above-described object, the present invention is directed to a connector device for an endoscope, having a light guide bar provided at the end portion of the endoscope cable, which is connected to the light source device, constructed such that the end portion of the light guide inserted into the endoscope cable is inserted into the light guide bar, wherein the connector device is provided with a guide member which guides the light guide to the light guide bar.
According to the present invention, since the guide member has been provided, the light guide can be caused to be smoothly inserted into the light guide bar. Therefore, when inserting the light guide into the light guide bar, the light guide can be prevented from being damaged.